Sao Paulo — east of brazil President Jair Bolsonaro He was discharged from a hospital in the capital on Friday to continue his 27-year sentence for carrying out a coup attempt at his residence in a highly gated community.
The Supreme Court had given him the right to this earlier this week house arrest Due to poor health. The measure can be modified within 90 days.
Bolsonaro left Brasília’s DF Star hospital around 10 a.m. local time and headed to the Jardim Botánico neighborhood, where he lived with his wife Michelle Bolsonaro and their 15-year-old daughter Laura before his conviction.
The 71-year-old was hospitalized on March 13 with pneumonia, adding to a string of health problems he has faced since he was stabbed by a man in 2018, before he was elected president. He was kept in intensive care for a few days For kidney and inflammatory problems.
Bolsonaro ruled between 2019 and 2022 and lost his re-election bid to current President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.
The former right-wing leader was accused of conspiring with top aides to remain in office despite his election defeat and was convicted of the charges. Including an attempted coup and attempted to violently end the democratic rule of law. He has denied any wrongdoing and described the matter as political witchcraft.
The former president began serving his sentence in November at the federal police headquarters in a 12-square-meter room, which included a bed, a private bathroom, air conditioning, a TV set and a desk. In January, he was shifted to a 54-square-metre room with a 10-square-metre outdoor area, where he could enter Papuda prison at will.
Bolsonaro remains popular in Brazil and has a son, senator flavio bolsonaroHe faces a competitive battle against Lula in the election ahead of presidential elections in October. The former president is ineligible and will not be allowed to play a public role in any campaign.
In his decision, the Supreme Court judge… Alexandre de Moraes It was stressed that Bolsonaro’s transition to house arrest is conditional and he can return to prison if he violates house arrest rules, regardless of his medical condition.
Bolsonaro will wear an ankle monitor and is not allowed to interact with anyone outside his household. He is not allowed to host any visitors except doctors, family members and his lawyers. Police will keep an eye on his house and protesters will not be allowed to gather around it.
Marcelo Crespo, a law professor at ESPM University in Sao Paulo, said it is unusual for home confinement decisions like Bolsonaro’s to include a review after 90 days, but he said de Moraes was “looking for some middle ground by not imposing a sentence of home confinement for an undetermined period.” As recently as November, De Moraes was recognized as former President being a flight risk.
The 90-day review has drawn criticism from both sides of the political divide.
Bolsonaro’s family and allies, who consider de Moraes a rival, have criticized the temporary nature of home confinement. Critics of the former president are also upset, saying he is being treated leniently despite his long history of advocating harsher punishment for culprits.
Bolsonaro is under house arrest as De Moraes and his wife are embroiled in a scandal The billion dollar collapse of Banco MasterWhich was shut down by the Central Bank in late 2025 amid allegations of fraud involving businessmen and politicians from across the ideological spectrum.
de Moraes, who until recently hailed as a hero The justice’s ties to the bank have been criticized since January by both Bolsonaro’s critics and allies, including by the former president’s opponents, who have raised concerns over a conflict of interest. These include his wife’s prior contract worth millions of dollars to provide legal services to the bank.
De Moraes has denied wrongdoing.
Political analyst Thomas Truman, who has written books about Brazil’s political divisions, attributed de Moraes’ decision to place Bolsonaro under house arrest due to political pressure related to the Banco Master scandal.
Truman said, “If it were up to him alone, he wouldn’t let Bolsonaro go home.”
Truman said Bolsonaro had health problems before being jailed and that Brazil’s Supreme Court has always been close to politics. “De Moraes needs to show some good will,” he said.
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